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December 21, 2001 Researchers Toy with New Rover DesignsThe next generation of Mars rovers may not be what you'd expect. Someday, a giant "beach ball" rover may roll along the surface of the planet and make a flurry of new discoveries. Other rovers may literally hang on the edge to give scientists a good look at the planet's nooks and crannies. |
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December 17, 2001 If Santa Were a MartianIf Santa Claus were a martian, he'd be in for one bumpy ride. |
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December 10, 2001 Seven Years to SaturnAs if going to Saturn wasn't hard enough, deciding what science to collect once in orbit around the giant planet is a logistic maze. |
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December 3, 2001 Seals, Sea Lions and SatellitesFiguring out what a northern fur seal has eaten recently can be a messy business, says fisheries biologist Jeremy Sterling of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Marine Mammal Laboratory in Seattle, Wash. |
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December 1, 2001 Where to Land on Mars? It's not as Easy as It LooksOf all the places to land on Mars, where in the world should twin rovers go? |
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November 26, 2001 A Star is BornVast clouds of gas and dust are swirling throughout our Milky Way galaxy. Some of these clouds are stellar nurseries, places where thousands of stars like our Sun are being born right now. |
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November 19, 2001 Machinists to the StarsIt's the middle of the night at JPL, and the usual dozens of deer are on their nightly foraging rounds across the campus. |
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November 12, 2001 20 years of Shuttle Imaging RadarLaunched Nov. 12, 1981, the Shuttle Imaging Radar-A flew as an idea and an assemblage of spare parts from the 1978 Seasat Synthetic Aperture Radar. |
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November 5, 2001 Dazzling Leonid Light Show ExpectedThe most dramatic meteor shower in 35 years will peak early on the morning of November 18. North American observers may see a two-hour burst of shooting stars, while people in Australia and east Asia may witness an even more impressive display. |
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November 1, 2001 'Porkchop' is the First Menu Item on a Trip to MarsAncient cultures looked to the patterns of tea leaves or animal entrails to divine the course of the future. At JPL, the course of a future Mars mission can be found in a porkchop. |
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October 29, 2001 Robots Put Students 'First'As the buzzer sounds, the robots sprint toward the center of the arena. Using metallic "arms" and other clever gadgets not seen on humans, the remotely controlled machines manage to grab a giant beach ball and attempt to dunk it into an oversized basket. |
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October 15, 2001 Bee Vision: The Latest Buzz in Space ExplorationFortunately, many flowers help these hard-working insects by showing them patterns that direct them to food sources. These patterns, however, are only visible in the ultraviolet range, something that many insects can detect. |
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October 15, 2001 Volunteer Educators Teach Space ExplorationWhen U.S. Army veteran John Reiss Jr. got a request to make a presentation to retired military officers in Yuma, Ariz., he had no idea it would blossom into a two-day, multi-subject event for potentially hundreds of people. |
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October 13, 2001 Exploring Mars: Mars Mission RisksJoin Charles Whetsel, chief engineer of the Mars Exploration Program, and Matt Landano, 2001 Mars Odyssey project manager, as they describe the hard yet rewarding road to Mars. |
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October 8, 2001 A Close-Up View of Planetary BirthEarly next year, scientists hope to gain insight into conditions that precede planet birth by deploying a powerful new instrument: the Keck Interferometer. |